East Cross Country Is Back on the Course

Nine days following an intrasquad time trial that had more than a handful of noteworthy performances, East Cross Country hit the course at the Washington Park Invitation against a mix of about eighteen teams that compete at the 2A to 5A level. The Angels exceeded even the high expectations set the week prior.

Girls Varsity were the first to race over what old timers would describe as a European style 5k course on 100% thick grass loops on the large meadow in the middle of the park, around which the usual volleyball and spikeball games were scattered. Ninth grader Rosie Mucharsky was immediately at the front of the pack. Rosie smartly sat a few meters behind the lead runner until about 1200m to go, then launching a strong surge to the lead that would culminate with a 24 second victory in her debut. Her 18:36 is a Denver East girls’ record and currently sits as the 6^th fastest time in the State. Sophomore Grace Todd, running her first varsity race, finished 11^th in 20:12, while fellow sophomore Sophia Shiroff was 14^th in 20:45.  In this “rebuilding year,” every runner who followed for East was running their first varsity race and each ran a personal best (some by minutes!): Junior Bri O’Meara 25^th, 21:34; sophomore Sasha Bull 27^th, 21:44; junior Helen Miller 28th, 21:50, ninth-grader Lila Cypers 29^th 22:10, and junior Ellie Goldstein 57^th in 23:14.  Quick rebuilders that they are, and despite missing several seniors taking the ACT, East came away with the team title with 66 points, followed by fellow 5A power Grandview with 80 points and league rivals Denver South with 81 points and Northfield with 92 points. 

Boys Varsity followed the Girls on the course with a mix of veterans and newcomers to the varsity level. Senior Eamon Nussbaum, who led the Angels for all of the 2020 campaign, again led the team with a smartly run 5K during which he moved up from about 12^th at the mile mark to 4^th overall in 16:53 – joining the small list of East runners to have broken 17 minutes for the first time. Junior Quinn Higgins, new to varsity, threatened the 17 minute barrier with a 17:06 run –  personal best by a full 3 minutes – for 8^th place. Freshman Jonas Scudamore ran 17:51 (the 10^th fastest time by a frosh in Colorado thus far) for 23^rdplace, followed closely by junior Ian Logan (24th, 17:55) and senior Owen Congdon (31^st, 18:05) who also finished with substantial personal bests. Varsity stalwarts junior Ben Hopper and sophomore Kai Luna finished together in 38^th and 39^th in 18:34, followed by varsity newcomers senior Josh Bruggeman (41^st 18:35) and junior Charlie Keglovitz (52^nd, 19:00) – both pr’s.   Together, the Angels totaled 79 points, good enough for 2^nd behind only Grandview High School and well ahead of 3^rdplace Mesa Ridge High School with 116 points and 4^th place Denver South with 119. 

The Open/JV races that followed ran around the same fields but for a 3000m distance rather than the 5000m distance. The Angels were led in the JV Girls race by a pair ninth-graders: Ella Terch moving up nicely in the latter part of the race for a 2^nd place finish in 12:53 and Franny Hebbard who also rallied late to finish 7^th in 13:17. Junior Evelyn Higgins finished 8^th in 13:17, sophomore Anna Rothman-Haji 10^th in 13:19, junior Clara Artley 13^th in 13:23, sophomore Avery Ash 14^th in 13:24, and junior Siena Berry 17^th in 13:37, made up the rest of East’s top-7 runners in the race. The scoring five runners totaled a mere 40 points, 7 points back of the winning Grandview team and 30 points ahead of 3^rd place Northfield.

The JV Boys were the last to take the course. Similar to the JV Girls, the JV Boys were led by a couple rookies to the team: junior Julio Dominguez-Perez finishing 3^rd in 10:40 and freshman Finley Steed finishing 5^th in 10:51.  This pair was followed by a strong pack that included junior Corbin Hobert (9^th, 11:03), sophomores Garrett Johnson (12^th 11:06) and Connor Beardsley(13^th, 11:13), a trio of freshmen Oliver Gustavson (20^th 11:34), Matias Sifuentes (21^st, 11:39), and Emmit Barros (22^nd, 11:41) and sophomore Carson Lerner (24^th, 11:43).  The Boys’ scoring five totaled 38 points, well ahead of Grandview’s 57 and South’s 66, securing the Angels a 2^nd team championship for the day.

Full results for all meets are always available at the Colorado MileSplit website: https://co.milesplit.com/meets/437670-washington-park-invitational-2021/results#.YS5mFIhKiUk

Coming off this promising opener, the Angels travel to Broomfield Commons Park on Friday for the Legacy Lightening Invitational. Thirty-eight teams are scheduled to compete at this meet including several 5A Region 3 teams the Angels will face on the same course at the Regional Championship in October for a chance to qualify for the State Meet. Boys Varsity will kick things off at 3:30pm, followed by Girls Varsity at 4:00pm, Boys JV at 4:30 and Girls JV at 4:45pm. 

Hi Runners!

We will be doing this every day after warm-up drills. Please review the following YouTube and note the correct form. These lunges will improve your running and help keep you injury free.

Lunge matrix

Hi Runners!

Please meet in the back of the auditorium today at 3:45pm for a quick team meeting. Remember to wear your mask while we are indoors.

Varsity and JV

Any athletes who have been issued a red jersey and black shorts will be running varsity today. Please dress and plan your arrival accordingly.

All other cleared athletes will be running JV today.

Schedule

Time: 9:30am – Coach’s meeting (at the finish line)

10:00am – Girls Varsity 5k (limited to 10 entries – top five score)

10:30 – Boys Varsity 5k (limited to 10 entries – top five score)

11:00 – Girls Open 3,000m (unlimited entries)

11:30 – Boys Open 3,000m (unlimited entries) 

12:00pm – High School Awards Ceremony at Start Line

Site: Washington Park Denver, Colorado

Plan to arrive at the East tent at least one hour before your start time. Look for the East XC tent on the east side of the park, near South Franklin St., between Kentucky and Tennessee Ave. The tent will be close to the start/finish line.

Course: Varsity – 5000 meters:   Open – 3000 meters:   This is a looped course on 100% grass Updated course map:

Parking: A heads up that there is No Parking on the interior of Wash Park as they are repaving the interior roads in the park. There is street parking for cars along the park and along adjacent streets in the surrounding neighborhood. Additional overflow / bus parking can be found further south at the Tennis Center off of South Franklin. Give yourself plenty of time to find parking.

Water: Water will NOT be provided. Please bring your own.

Arrival times for Wash Park on 8/28:

Varsity Girls: arrive by 9:00am

Varsity Boys: arrive by 9:30am (We told you 10:00 in the last update, but that was an error.)

JV Girls and Boys: arrive by 10:00am

This means be at the East XC Tent ready to warm up on or before those times. Allow time for parking and walking in to the tent. Link to Course Map

The host team is not allowed to provide water cups this year due to Covid. Please bring your own water bottle to every meet. They should have water for you to refill your bottle. Plan on cheering on your teammates when you are not racing.

Deadline for purchasing East XC swag is today, Friday, Aug 27, 2021 at midnight.

If you want to purchase bracelets, warm-ups, shorts, backpacks/stringpacks, or other swag, today is your day to get it done.

Click here for the Aritken beaded bracelets .

Click here for Warm-ups, shorts and packs.

Click here for Hoodies, T-shirts, Travel Mugs and Water Bottles

The above are optional items and not mandatory for athletes to purchase.

Go Angels!!

Date: Saturday, August 28, 2021 

Time: 9:30am – Coach’s meeting (at the finish line)

10:00am – Girls Varsity 5k (limited to 10 entries – top five score)

10:30 – Boys Varsity 5k (limited to 10 entries – top five score)

11:00 – Girls Open 3,000m (unlimited entries)

11:30 – Boys Open 3,000m (unlimited entries) 

12:00pm – High School Awards Ceremony at Start Line

Site: Washington Park Denver, Colorado

Course: Varsity – 5000 meters:   Open – 3000 meters:   This is a looped course on 100% grass Link to Course Map

Transportation: We will NOT have a bus for this meet. Varsity Girls: be there by 9:00am. Varsity boys: be there by 9:30am. JV girls and JV boys: be there by 10:00am. Look for the East XC tent on the east side of the park, near South Franklin St. and Tennessee Ave. The tent should be close to the start/finish line. You can park in the South High School parking lot or on the streets on the east side of the park.

If you cannot run in the meet, please fill out this form so we know you won’t be there. Runner Unavailability Form

Parents: We need a volunteer to take our tent home from the Wash Park Meet and bring it to the Legacy Meet in Broomfield. If you can help, let us know by clicking here: Tent Transport Sign Up

Season Kickoff Meeting – Virtual

Thursday, 8/26 at 6:30pm. Athletes and parents should attend. Meeting IDmeet.google.com/gwn-vxum-wyk

Hi Runners!

Welcome to the start of school! We have a lot going on this week, so here is what is happening!

• Season Kick-off Meeting on Thursday, August 26 at 6:30pm. East XC runners and their parents should attend. Here is the link:

Meeting IDmeet.google.com/gwn-vxum-wyk

• Uniforms have mostly been handed out to runners today. We ran out of some sizes, but will get more tomorrow. Please text Ruth at 303-525-3829 if you got the wrong size and need to exchange your shirt or shorts. If you still need to sign up for a uniform, click here: Uniform Check Out We will finish checking out uniforms on Wednesday, August 25 after practice.
  • If you would prefer to buy your own uniform shorts, please click here: XC Gear Shop
• Washington Park Meet will be this Saturday morning, August 28. Details to follow soon.
  • If you cannot run in the meet, please fill out this form so we know you won’t be there. Runner Unavailability Form
  • Parents: We need a volunteer to take our tent home from the Wash Park Meet and bring it to the Legacy Meet in Broomfield. If you can help, let us know by clicking here: Tent Transport Sign Up

• Time Trial Results

Runners!

We are meeting in the Commons (lunch room) today, Monday, August 23, at 3:45pm. Come ready to run. Coaches will be at the front door to guide you to the Commons if you don’t know where to go.

If you haven’t filled out a uniform check out form, we can’t give you a uniform. 😦 Please fill one out as soon as you can: Uniform Check-out form

If you have already filled out the form, thank you! 🙂 We will distribute uniforms next week.